Korean stocks open higher Tuesday ahead of Fed's policy meeting

Stocks opened higher Tuesday ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting this week.

Electronic display boards at Hana Bank in central Seoul show stock and foreign exchange markets Tuesday morning. [YONHAP]

Stocks opened higher Tuesday ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting this week.

The benchmark Kospi rose 14.34 points, or 0.63 percent, to 2,307.95 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight on Wall Street, stocks closed slightly lower as investors await the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee meeting scheduled this week.

Investors expect the Fed to make another rate hike this week, though some cautiously believe that the central bank may go easy on a sharp rate increase.

In Seoul, most large-cap shares started higher.

Samsung Electronics rose 1.18 percent, while SK hynix slid 0.24 percent.

Auto shares lost ground. Hyundai Motors dropped 0.91 percent, and its affiliate Kia inched down 0.3 percent.

Battery makers had a strong start. Battery maker LG Energy Solution added 2.08 percent, SK Innovation surged 4.91 percent, and battery materials maker Posco Chemical added 0.75 percent.

The won was trading at 1,427.7 won against the dollar, up 3.4 won from Monday's close as of 9:15 a.m.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO, YONHAP [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]